Customers have swamped Kia dealers to lay
hands on the 850 Sportage First Edition 2.0 CRDi AWD but some were
insistent on a petrol alternative.

So to satisfy that demand, and ahead of
the full-range going on sale later in the year, additional factory
production has been secured for 300 petrol engined versions of Kia’s
newest crossover.

The Sportage First Edition 2.0 AWD is
powered by Kia’s Theta-II 2.0 petrol engine and comes with a 5-speed
manual transmission delivering 161bhp @ 5,200rpm and 194Nm torque at
4,600rpm. The vehicle has a top speed of 113mph, accelerates from rest
to 60mph in 10.3 seconds and achieves a combined cycle fuel consumption
of 35.8 mpg. CO2 emissions are 188g/km. The ABI Insurance
grouping is to be confirmed shortly.

This new version of the Sportage comes
with the exactly the same high level of specification as its diesel
counterpart, which includes: Black leather upholstery, dual-zone climate
control, 18” alloy wheels, LED daytime running lights, Bluetooth, cruise
control, rain-sensing wipers and a colour rear parking camera system
integrated into the rear view mirror. Four exterior colours are
available on this version: Clyde Blue, Phantom Black metallic, Silver
Storm metallic and the striking Techno Orange metallic.

New Sportage First Edition 2.0 AWD is
priced at £19,495 ‘On-The-Road’ and, as with every new Kia, comes with a
fully-transferable seven year warranty. Customer ordering is open now
and deliveries will begin in October. The full new Sportage line-up,
including 2WD and lower capacity engine versions, will be available
later in the year.

Michael Cole, Managing Director of Kia
Motors (UK) Ltd., said: “From the moment we announced the all-new
Sportage our dealers were under siege from new and existing customers
who wanted to be among the first to get hold of this exciting car. But
it was clear that many wanted a petrol option – so we are very happy to
have secured 300 units to meet that demand.

“We will not have too long to wait for
the full range of new Sportage – from November we will have 2WD and AWD
versions featuring four engines including a 1.6GDI and a 1.7
Turbo-Diesel, but such is the excitement about new Sportage that we
simply couldn’t disappoint those customers who wanted First Edition but
with a petrol engine,” he added.